Tell us, Mr. Chairman
I'm assuming that Chairman Lauzen is doing some serious self-reflection at this time, after making a very unwise political appointment of his friend, Mr. Sauceda, into a position that he had no experience in. I think that the voters who pay Mr. Sauceda's salary deserve to know why he [resigned] from [the] office. Are you going to tell us, Mr. Chairman?

You are blessings
Thank you to all of the men and women who have collectively given of their time to make our green areas free of trash. Driving down Kirk Road, your work is very evident. In our towns, river banks, sidewalks, parkways and lawns, your work is showcased there, too. You people are amazing and make our Tri-Cities attractive to all who reside and visit. Waste haulers, you are blessings as well. Your diligence and your faithfulness is at work all year. Thank you all, team clean. You are invaluable.

I can't see the high taxes
How much more are the real-estate taxes going up? Don't they realize that a lot of people, over 50, have lost jobs and are working anywhere they can to keep the family afloat? I can't see the high taxes in the Tri-Cities area at all. Where is all that money going? They have riverboat casinos and lottery tickets for schools. With all the people buying lottery tickets, who is accountable for that?

It's not free money
Some of the newspapers are starting to have citizens group meetings about how we can make our community better. One of the things I see is we need a lot more community involvement. But people need to also understand when cities like Batavia put up headlines that say they are going to dip into reserves to ease residential electric costs, that doesn't mean residential taxes are going to be eased. What it means is that we're going to have to make up in tax dollars so we have those reserves to reduce the electrical cost. Everything has a price. I think we need to make sure that people are educated to understand that there's nothing free in this world. Especially if it comes from the government, it is absolutely, unequivocally not free. It costs you in tax dollars. That's not free money.

How about hope for the U.S.?
Hope for Haiti 5K run? How about a Hope for the United States 5K run? I am tired of seeing events to help other countries. There are plenty of American people who need help. Why do we help other countries? They don't help us. We send them our money. We adopt their children. We sponsor them to come to our country. For what? Stop and think about this. Is this just so you can be a do-gooder? Our country is in big trouble, and we need to take care or ourselves. Put your charity dollars to good use and help your fellow Americans.

How sad
Recently, an article appeared in the Chronicle, "Open late, at a cost." That was [about] bar owners who want to stay open until 2 a.m., not 1 a.m. How late do you really want to stay open? How much do you think people should drink? The city is sure making a lot of money to give you more to drink. Doesn't the city make enough make money in real-estate taxes? How sad to drink for another hour, at somebody else's expense. I am a mother who buried her child because of a drunk driver. He also got to drink late.

What fool approved it?
I travel all of the roads in Illinois, major intersections throughout this state, four-lane roads. At these intersections, there are maybe two or three stoplights. IDOT determines a two-lane road, at Waubonsee and Route 47, needs six green lights? What fool approved this?

Eliminate Spanish classes
Recently, I noticed a food display, in Spanish only, at a ... gas station in St. Charles. I looked at it and wondered where our country is headed. The children in Spanish classes today will want to hear and practice their Spanish. I hear people speaking Spanish in stores every place I go. We are replacing English for Spanish as our common language. As Americans, we tolerate so much at the expense of our culture and language. What will most U.S. citizens be speaking in the future, English or Spanish? My suggestion is to eliminate Spanish classes in our schools. Let us strive to protect our English language. Unless, of course, you do not care and are willing to give away English as the language of the land.

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